Babar Azam-led Pakistan become second team to achieve historic feat after drawn Test vs Australia

Pakistan and Australia played out a humdinger of a clash in the just-concluded second and penultimate Test at the National Stadium, Karachi on Wednesday (March 16). After Day 4 ended with Pakistan at 192-2, in pursuit of a mammoth 506-run target set by Pat Cummins & Co., Babar Azam stood tall from one end to prevent a memorable win for the visitors with an impressive 196-run knock in Karachi. After Babar fell with over 12 overs remaining in the final day’s play, Mohammad Rizwan’s 104 not out propelled Pakistan to 443-7 as both sides settled for a draw with the series scoreline still reading 0-0.

Courtesy Babar’s lengthy stay in the middle, Pakistan managed to escape from the jaws of a defeat after conceding a big first-innings lead. Babar batted for over 400 deliveries and registered the highest score by a captain in the final innings of a Test match. With a terrific draw, courtesy Babar, Rizwan and Abdullah Shafique (96), Pakistan created history and became only the second team to bat over 1,000 deliveries in the fourth and final innings for a draw.

ALSO READ | Babar Azam scripts history, achieves elite feat during marathon 196-run knock in 2nd Test vs Australia

The first instance came during England’s timeless Test in Durban, versus South Africa, in 1939. That match went on for as many as 10 days and had to be stopped as the English team would’ve missed the boat for home. Back then, England were 654/5 in chase of 696 in 218.2 overs when the match ended in a draw.

After the match, Babar said at the post-match presentation, “The plan was to bat session-by-session and build partnerships. It was a team effort, as others (Shafique and Rizwan) chipped in with useful contributions too. We took the onus and the main focus was to build partnerships right throughout the day. Rizwan was outstanding as he saved the Test for us eventually. We wanted to continue to bat in the same way (after the tea break) and we tried to be positive and play our shots. The team needed this knock, so I tried to bat for as long as I could.”

Meanwhile, Cummins stated, “I think so, I think we had enough overs, it was a pretty good wicket even on day 4 and day 5. We created a few chances, but we failed to grab them. Mitch Swepson was fantastic on debut, his figures don’t do justice to the way he bowled. Nathan was impressive towards the end, as he always does on day 5. For an Australian team to bat over two days at the start of a Test match, I don’t think we’ve done that for a long time. Lots of positives from this match and so far in the series. The way we batted was fantastic, the way we hunted and took those wickets on day 3 with reverse swing, that was brilliant as well. And we were always ahead in the game, so really proud of the boys.”